In the process, he put the crossbench on the hot couch, wrong-footed the Greens, surprised Labor and made it look like he knew what he was doing.

But one wonders if those out there in Voterville are impressed.

All they get is a bonus edition of the Senate being ridiculous, super-charged outrage from across parliament and an election campaign that could go for longer than the footy finals and the Olympics combined.

They have also been hit in the face with a new "crisis". Suddenly, something called the Australian Building and Construction Commission is the issue most primo. The bill has been kicking around parliament for yonks, but apparently, it's now of such pressing importance it could send us all to the polls in July.

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So you can hardly blame those watching at home for refusing to take off their cynical pants. Or indeed, for thinking the current situation is merely a tedious continuation of the past five and half years – in which politics has been an exercise in headless chickening, high stakes game playing and the sort of discord that would make Stravinsky proud.

But those feeling sick and tired at the very thought of the kerfuffle ahead can take heart from one thing: we are not America.

Each week brings yet more examples from abroad that can't help but make one want to buy Turnbull, Bill Shorten and Co. a beer and give the Australian constitution a smacking kiss.

It's not perfect, but there are many reasons to be thankful for the politics we've got:

1. Our election campaigns are not that long

Much is made of the fact the Australia is almost always in campaign mode, given our federal elections are only about three years apart.

But we are not a patch on the US. When it comes down to it, at the most, we have a few leaders debates and people are required to turn up and vote on one single day.

In the US, because of the primaries, there are debates and votes ad nauseam ... just to decide who gets to run in the main race.

OK, so Australia's official election campaign this time may go for almost two months. But at least we're not talking almosttwo years.

We'll spare you the low rent details (it relates to an old nudie pic of Melania Trump and Trump's threatening to "spill the beans" on Heidi Cruz). The point is, family really matters in a US election. It's not just a candidate's policies, record or slogans that are up for public judgement, but their domestic life as well.

The wives (and they are mostly wives) follow the candidates everywhere. They are part backdrop, part prop and total necessity if a campaign is to be taken seriously.

In Australia, we are aware that leaders have a home life. And at times – say, regarding "first bloke" Tim Mathieson – this seems more interesting than others. But ordinarily we are happy for leaders' spouses to get on with their existences while we get on with ours.

And there is genuine squeamishness about involving them in the political fray.

4. Things aren't tasteless or scary

Australian politics has been a bitter brew in recent years. We've had the hung parliament, leadership swaps, ghosts of prime ministers' past (hi, Tony!), mutual government-Senate loathing and the animosity everyone has for the Greens.

But all of this seems genteel – quaint even – when compared to the US, where the presidential primaries have seen candidates make jokes about their opponents' penis size and dismiss a female journalist as having her period.

There is also no concern about violence at campaign events in Australia. Nor has any politician encouraged supporters to make hand gestures that bear an uncanny resemblance to 1930s Germany.

5. Trump couldn't happen here

As we have (painfully) learned in recent times, party rooms elect leaders, not the people. So it it very unlikely that we'd ever see someone hell bent on ripping up the political establishment in contention for the national leadership.